Destroy or Be Destroyed
by Tech-Man
Summary: Vlad is determined to finally have Danny join him. When Danny says no Vlad goes after those he cares about most removing the only thing keeping him sane. DS
1. Smoke

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

**Destroy or Be Destroyed**

**Chapter 1 - Smoke**

Danny floated high above the city of Amity Park. The resident hero was on patrol a nightly event that had been going on since he was fourteen years old. Now twenty one Danny had matured from the short skinny freshman into a tall muscular man. Danny was now in this third year of college at Amity Park University. Much to his dad's surprise Danny was getting a degree in paranormal study. Living with world renowned ghost hunters and being half ghost made his classes a breeze. Finally Danny had a great GPA and he didn't even have to study for it. Both Sam and Tucker had decided to stay here in Amity Park as well. Sam was currently getting her degree in Art History while Tucker was doing a joint study with MIT in nanotech theory and application.

Danny gazed down at the house of his best friend, Samantha Manson. A smile graced his features at the thought of the Gothic beauty. Over the years Sam had blossomed into a striking woman. Sam's hair had grown down past her shoulders she still had the milky white complexion that made her look like an angel on Earth. Her wardrobe had changed little over the years. She still wore her trademark combat boots, but instead of her plaid skirt she had switched to black pants that complimented her curves. She was now very fond of her short sleeved shirt that stopped just above her stomach. Danny continued to smile at the mental image of his best friend who had matured into a beautiful woman.

Danny's smile slowly faded away to be replaced by a frown. For years he has wanted to be more than just her best friend. For years he has watched her date other guys; guys that he was extremely jealous of. He was just too afraid of ruining their friendship over these feelings. He used to just shrug them off as teenage hormones, but as they grew older he began to realize that what he was feeling was more than just teenage hormones talking. He was in love with his best friend and not just your normal love but head over heals in love with Sam.

Danny looked down at the watch Sam had given him for Christmas last year: 8:45. _"Damn,"_ he thought to himself. He was supposed to meet Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger at 8:30. He was late again and this time he didn't have a ghost fight as an excuse to fall back on. Sam was going to skin him alive and here he was late because he had been day dreaming about her again. Flying as fast as he could Danny headed towards the alley behind the Nasty Burger. Danny changed back into Fenton and walked through the door to be met with double glares from Tucker and Sam.

"Hey guys sorry I'm late," Danny said as he took a seat next to Tucker.

"You do know we ordered fifteen minutes ago," Sam asked shooting him another dirty glare.

"Ya dude, why were you late this time," Tucker asked munching down on his burger.

A blush crept across Danny's face at the thought of what had preoccupied his time and the object of his obsession was sitting across from him frowning at him. A blush forming on his cheeks at the thought of Sam _"Damn", I wish I knew what she was thinking,"_ Danny thought to himself.

Sam saw the blush take form on Danny's face as he suddenly broke eye contact with them. _"Bet he was day dreaming about Paulina again,"_ Sam thought her smile being replaced by a small frown.

Taking a chance Danny brought his eyes up to meet Sam's face only to see her beautiful face contorted in a sad frown. Danny was about to ask her what was wrong when a voice broke through his thoughts.

"Fenton, why do you continue to sit there when you know damn well that I want to sit by Tucker," Valerie's voice brought him out of his thoughts. Danny stared up at Valerie with a blank look. The next thing Danny knew he was face first on the floor of the Nasty Burger.

"What was that for," Danny said indigently as he glared at Tucker. Danny took the seat next to Sam and brushed her hand with his eliciting a blush from both of them. The two made eye contact for a brief second before looking in opposite directions.

"I just want to sit next to my girl," Tucker said giving Valerie a squeeze.

"So," Valerie asked looking and Danny and Sam then over to Tucker, "How are clueless and denial doing today?"

Tucker just laughed at Valerie's little comment while Danny and Sam stared on with blank looks on their faces. "So, what are we going to do today," Tucker asked bringing the conversation back to life.

"I don't know what ever you guys feel like," Danny said finally picking up his cold food and eating.

"How about we all go over to Sam's house and watch movies," Valerie suggested looking over at Sam to see if the idea was okay. Sam gave a noncommittal shoulder shrug; she was too busy watching Danny. Valerie just smiled as she watched Sam watch Danny. _"These two are just sad,"_ she thought to herself, _"I would have thought they would have admitted their feelings for each other a long time ago."_

While Valerie was busy talking with Tucker a blue mist escaped from Danny's lips. Sam saw it and looked over at Tucker cluing him in on the issue. Danny groaned to himself as he went to stand up from the table. "So are you guys going to be over at Sam's house," Danny asked trying to give himself an out.

"Yeah, we'll be over there," Sam chimed in nodding to Danny.

"Well, I have something I need to take care of real quick and I'll be right over there," Danny said heading towards the back door. The three watched as Danny headed out the back door leaving a good portion of his food still on the table. Tucker reached over with expert hands and grabbed what was left of Danny's food.

After Tucker had finished eating Sam looked over at the couple, "So are you guys ready to head over towards my house?" Tucker and Valerie stood up and followed Sam over to her car that she had bought when she turned eighteen. Sam had bought a black Nissan Altma with all black interior to complete her Gothic image.

Once Danny had cleared the back door of the Nasty Burger Fenton was replaced with Phantom. Shooting high into the sky Danny scanned the horizon looking for any sigh of the ghost that had set off his ghost sense. Suddenly a magenta blast caught Danny right between the shoulder blades sending him spiraling down towards the ground. Danny caught himself before he hit the ground. Looking up Danny spotted the silhouette of Plasimus high above the roof tops. Danny shot a death glare towards Vlad followed by a quick succession of ecto-blasts.

Vlad watched with amusement as his shot had hit its target with precision sending him falling towards the ground. Watching the younger halfa fire a quick series of blast in his direction he tossed up an impromptu ecto-shield successfully stopping the blasts. "You have to be quicker than that, Daniel," Vlad spat down towards the younger halfa.

"Sure thing," was all Vlad heard before something hit him from behind with enough force to send him slamming into the rough concrete below. Danny floated above where Vlad was moments before with a proud smirk on his face. "How was that, Vlad? You didn't even catch the after image this time. I the being a deranged fruit loop is starting to affect your fighting abilities."

Vlad visibly tensed at the nickname given to him by Danny. Vlad cursed himself for allowing such a simple trick to get the better of him. Vlad stood up brushing the dirt off his outfit before floating up to meet Danny face to face. "I have a proposition for you Daniel," Vlad spoke with his oily slick voice that did nothing to grate on Danny's nerves.

"What could you possibly have to say that I would care about," Danny said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Vlad smiled to himself, "Well, I have come to offer you the chance to join me. Now before you open your mouth and say anything understand Daniel this will be the last time I ask you in a civil manner. After this it will mean war Daniel and war is very dirty," Vlad said the words left unsaid ringing clearer than those said aloud.

"I told you before and I'll tell you again. I have now intention of joining now or ever," Danny said ecto-energy flowing into his hands forming brightly glowing green balls.

Vlad raised his hands in an act of surrender, "Your choice Daniel, but remember what I said. War is a dirty business." With that a mist enveloped Plasimus and he disappeared from sight.

Danny allowed the energy gathering in his hands to absorb back into his body. Taking one last look around to make sure that Vlad was know where in sight Danny headed in the direction of Sam's house. Danny arrived at Sam's house just to see her shutting the front door. Danny dropped into the alley next to her house and walked to the front door as Fenton once again.

Knock, Knock

Sam turned around looking at the door that she had closed only a few moments before. With a confused look on her face Sam headed over and opened the door to find a smiling Danny. "How was it," Sam asked the concern evident in her voice.

"Just Plasimus," Danny answered stepping through the doorway, "just a little scratch on my back." Danny headed in the direction of the theater only to be stopped by Sam's hand on his shoulder. "What," he asked turning around to face her again.

Sam held up her hand with blood on it and gave him a stern glare. "I thought you said it was just a little scratch," she said before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him up the stairs to her bedroom. "Here sit," Sam commanded pointing towards her bed as she headed in the direction on her bathroom to get some bandages. Danny watched as she walked towards her bathroom he was lost in thought when she started pulling at the hem of his shirt trying to get it off.

"Will you take it off already? How else am I supposed to clean this burn you have on your back," Sam asked again pulling on his shirt. "Ouch," Sam said as she rubbed her sore bottom and back. Looking up she saw Danny laughing at her. "How the hell did that happen," Sam asked glaring at Danny hands on her hips.

"I just phased out of it," Danny stated as if it was obvious. Danny reached a hand down to help Sam up a blush forcing its way onto his cheeks as their hands touched.

"You could have warned me you know," Sam said getting started on the burn left from Plasmius's attack. Sam made quick work of the burn having had several years' worth of practicing under her belt.

After Sam finished Danny looked at his shirt the entire back was covered in blood. "Guess I am going to have to go home and change first," he said looking at the shirt.

"Or not," Sam said opening another door on her closet and revealing several shirts and pants all matching Danny's style and size. "I thought I should be prepared," Sam said looking at the ground. Suddenly she was engulfed in a hug by Danny Sam smiled and hugged him back.

"You're the best Sammy. You know that," Danny said as he grabbed a clean shirt and put it on throwing the other in Sam's dirty clothes.

"Yeah, I know," Sam said closing the door behind her, "we should get down there before they start wondering where we are."

"You're probably right," Danny replied following Sam out of the room and down the stairs towards the theater.

They found Valerie and Tucker making out of one of the love seats in the theater. Sam coughed loudly to announce her and Danny's presence. The two looked up and then went straight back to what they had been doing only moments ago. Sam walked over and turned on a movie and dimmed the lights. She and Danny took a seat on the opposite side of the theater from Val and Tucker. "At least we won't have to see or hear them," Sam whispered into Danny's ear as Serenity began. The scene where Wash is bringing in Serenity for a hard landing got the attention of the two in the corner and the four friends set and watched the movie. Valerie fell asleep on Tuckers shoulder about half way through the movie.

As the reavers were attacking in the movie Danny's ghost sense went off for the second time that day. Sighing he stood up and looked over at Valerie who was fast asleep on Tucker's shoulder. Tucker nodded giving Danny the go ahead as once again Fenton became Phantom. Danny phased through the roof of the Manson's mansion. Danny scanned the sky looking for the ghost and expecting Vlad to jump out behind him. Danny spotted Skulker heading in the direction of Casper High. Danny flew after him the ecto-blasts already charging in his hands.

Skulker turned his head around to make sure that the whelp had taken the bait and sure enough the whelp was in fast pursuit. Skulker turned and fired a series of missiles towards Danny's position. Danny maneuvered quickly to avoid being struck by the projectiles. Skulker hovered above the roof of Casper High carefully aiming his various weapons at Danny's quickly approaching form.

Noticing Skulker preparing to fire again Danny turned invisible and intangible flying straight through Skulker and letting loose the ecto-blasts that he had formed straight into his back. Skulker was slammed into the roof of the school. "Good thing I don't attend this place any more," Danny said to himself as Skulker picked himself off the ground. Danny and Skulker continued to exchange blasts between each other resulting in a fair amount of damage to Casper High and the surrounding area. Danny finally got the upper hand body slammed Skulker in to the faculty parking lot. Slowly Skulker picked himself off the ground for the second time during this fight. Firing his jets Skulker came up to meet Danny flying high above the school. "What do you want this time; my pelt on your wall? You do know that is getting really old," Danny said once again charging two ecto-blasts in his hands.

"Just here to distract you," Skulker said as he flew off away from Amity Park.

Danny's brow furrowed in confusion as he watched the retreating form of Skulker getting smaller and smaller in the distance. Slowly it donned on him; the only thing worth distracting him from was his friends. Danny quickly looked over in the direction of Sam's house. Smoke was billowing into the air. Flying as fast as he could Danny was confronted with the entire house on fire.

SAM!!!

**AN: Credit for the title of this story goes to ****flarey phoenix. ****I would like to thank ****catgirlversion3.0otakufan and flarey phoenix ****for beta reading this story. I hope you readers have enjoyed my other multi-chapter DP story "Sam's Plan of Action". If you haven't read it I would recommend it. Now please review and let me know what you thought of the first chapter.**


	2. Rubble

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. **

**Destroy or Be Destroyed **

**Chapter 2 – Rubble **

Danny floated above the burning wreckage of Sam's house. The shock had hit him so hard he had momentarily forgotten how to breathe. His mind went completely blank at the image before him. The entire place was on fire and it looked as if the entire house had collapsed into the basement. _"Oh God, the basement! That's where Tucker and Sam are! That's where I left them,"_ Danny thought in utter horror. Suddenly his brain kicked into overtime and Danny shot straight at the house, remembering to go intangible just before he would have impaled himself on a piece of rebar. "Sam, can you hear me? Sam! Please say something!" Danny yelled into the smoldering rubble of the once proud Manson Mansion.

Danny flew deeper and deeper into the wreckage as he got closer to where the basement should be. Only black smoke could be seen, dense enough that he was having trouble seeing his own hand in front of his face. An idea popped into Danny's head and, changing direction, he flew above the house and concentrated on the horrific inferno that suffocated the mansion. Using his newly acquired ice powers Danny proceeded to put out the fire. With nothing but rubble to impede him, he flew back into the nightmare come alive.

Danny quickly reached the basement and found nothing but crumbled concrete and charred wood. As he scanned the room, a small charred object caught his attention. He flew anxiously over to the object and picked it up. Tears began to well in his emerald green eyes, for in his hand was Tucker's most prized possession… his PDA. Tucker would never leave it behind. Danny picked up the speed and urgency of his search. At last he gave up hope, leaving the burned pile of rubble that used to be his best friend's house.

Danny broke down once he was outside of the building. He fell to his knees and the tears that had been stinging his eyes finally broke free. Twin streams of tears fell down his face as he collapsed to the ground sobbing uncontrollably.

**Before the Fire: **

Sam watched as Danny flew through the roof of the theater room on his way to catch another ghost. She smiled to herself as she watched him phase through the ceiling. God, how she loved him, she only wished that he felt the same way about her. Sam had felt this way about Danny ever since freshman year of high school. She watched as Danny fell head-over-heals for Valerie and Paulina. Every day in high school was heartbreaking for Sam; every day watching Danny flirt with Valerie or Paulina. Finally Sam had had enough and in sophomore year she started dating as a way to make Danny jealous.

Sam shot a look over at Tucker and Valerie, the later was still asleep in his arms and Tucker was giving her a strange look. "What," Sam demanded, her tone reaching a louder pitch than she had intended.

Tucker just smiled and lay Valerie's head down on one of the cushions and walked over towards Sam. "So, are you finally going to tell him," Tucker asked, taking the seat Danny had previously occupied.

Sam just hung her head and sighed. "I can't. I can't jeopardize our friendship because I fell in love with my best friend," Sam finished looked over at the TV. She seemed to Tucker to be accusatory towards herself; she was beating herself up for 'letting' herself fall in love.

Tucker mentally slapped himself at Sam's comment. "_How much pushing and prodding are these two going to have to go through before they figure out they're prefect for each other?"_ Tucker wondered to himself as he looked over at Valerie's sleeping form. "Sam, what I am about to tell you I do just because I have watched this for years and I am getting damn tired of being in between you two," Sam turned her attention from the movie and looked at Tucker, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Tell me what?" Sam asked, turning slightly to face Tucker.

"Sam, Danny loves you and has loved you since freshman year. He doesn't think you feel the same way and after the incident with Gregor he's been afraid to even attempt to get close to you when you have a boyfriend. He thinks that if you felt the same way you would have said so a long time ago." Tucker finished, looking cautiously at his best friend.

Sam froze at what Tucker was saying. Part of her wanted to stand up and shout for joy that Danny actually loved her; while the other half questioned whether or not Tucker was just trying to get a good chuckle out of it. Sam looked over at Tucker, her dilemma evident on her face. "Tucker, I have seen him fight Vlad, the Fright Knight, even the Ghost King and you're trying to tell me that he is afraid to tell his best friend how he feels?" Sam questioned, doubt present in her tone of voice.

"Sam, the way you feel about him will always scare him more than any ghost," Tucker said, trying to get his point across.

Sam smiled and looked down at her boots, "Well, maybe I will just ask him when he gets back from fighting whatever ghost was dumb enough to come this way," Sam said turning her attention back towards the movie.

BBBBBOOOOOMMM

The entire house shook and dust cascaded from the ceiling. The explosion was enough to wake Valerie from her sleep. "What's going on?" She yelped, sitting up and looking over at where Sam and Tucker had been talking.

BBBBBOOOOOOMM

Another explosion rocked the building as Valerie tried to stand. The force of it knocked her over into the popcorn machine. Sam watched as Valerie came towards them, stumbling every time the ground shook. Sam and Tucker remained in place as a huge crack in the ceiling formed.

"What's going on?" Tucker shouted as another explosion ripped through the Manson Mansion. The three friends stood facing each other, looking around, expecting Danny to show up.

"Where's Danny?" Valerie asked, looking around the room and seeing no sign of him. Sam and Tucker sent each other a knowing look then Sam turned and answered, "He had to go home for a few minutes." Valerie nodded and reached over, wrapping Tucker in a hug.

Sam sighed inwardly at the display of affection and wished that she was watching her and Danny, but now was not the time to entertain this train of thought. "Let's get outside so we can figure out what's happening," Sam suggested heading, towards the stairs. Sam turned her attention towards the stairs and for the first time she saw the black smoke pouring into the basement. _"Oh my God!"_ Sam thought to herself, _"My house is on fire!"_ "Guys," Sam yelled at Tucker and Valerie, "stay low and watch out! The house is on fire!!!"

Tucker and Valerie nodded towards Sam as their eyes widened at the black smoke. Valerie squeezed Tucker's hand as she led him towards the stairs, following after Sam. If she was anywhere else she would have used her ghost hunting equipment to get everyone out, but they didn't know and she hadn't even told Tucker. Valerie mentally berated herself for not telling him and not wanting to expose her biggest secret.

The group was on the stairs when a sudden explosion caused them to shake violently. Sam lost her footing and fell backwards into Valerie, who fell into Tucker. They all collapsed on the landing half way up. Looking up, Tucker watched in horror as the brace above them gave way and the ceiling began to collapse.

**Before the Fire: **

Vlad smiled to himself as Danny chased after Skulker. Everything was going according to plan. In a flash of light Masters was replaced with Plasimus. Floating above the mansion Vlad smiled evilly to himself allowing two large ecto-blasts to take form in his hands. "With his friends gone from this world Daniel will finally join me and I can take over this pathetic planet," Plasimus said to himself as he let the blasts fly free one crashing into the front door and the other the window of that Gothic girl.

The two points erupted in flames as two more equally powerful blasts fired out towards the Manson Mansion. An evil and maniacal laugh escaped Vlad's lips as the building began to crumple due to the stress of the fire and continuous barrage of fire from Vlad.

Deciding to not press his luck Vlad raised his hands above his head and allowed his energy to flood into a massive ball of ecto energy. Releasing it, Vlad hurled it at the mansion with the target being the center of the building. With a huge concussion the building collapsed into the center piling all the material into the basement. With a smirk and laugh Vlad disappeared in a whirl of smoke.

**Present Time:**

As tears poured down Danny's face twin rings of light encompassed his body, leaving Fenton where Phantom once knelt. Danny fought with himself over his feelings for Sam. She had been right beside him and he didn't tell her how he felt. Now he would never get the chance to tell her. A part of him hoped that she would come back as a ghost so he could tell her how he really felt, but the more logical part new that Sam would never come back as a ghost it just wasn't in her. She didn't have anything to be obsessed about.

In the distance Danny could hear the sirens of the approaching police and fire. Standing up he forced the transformation into Phantom and took to the skies, remembering to go invisible so that he at least wouldn't be blamed for this disaster. The sounds of the sirens faded as Danny approached his house. Phasing through the window he fell onto his bed letting the sorrow consume him once again.

Danny reached over and grabbed the picture sitting on his nightstand. Looking at it caused a fresh batch of tears to stream down his face. The picture was one taken by Tucker just last year. Sam and Danny were standing together, Danny had his arm wrapped around Sam's waist and her head was leaning on his shoulder. Danny smiled as he remembered that day.

**Flashback **

_"Alright just a little closer together," Tucker said as Danny and Sam stood side by side. _

_Danny looked over at Sam; they were standing in front of the Nasty Burger and Tucker had suggested that he and Sam take a picture together. Danny really didn't know why he had agreed to the picture, it was probably because Sam had agreed first. _

_"All right guys smile," Tucker said as he steadied his camera on his two friends. _

_Just as Tucker was pressing the button on the camera an idea popped into Danny's head. Quickly Danny wrapped his arm around Sam and pulled her close to him. Sam taking the step she had always wanted leaned her head onto Danny's shoulder. _

_Tucker couldn't believe the luck he had today. He was happy just getting them standing together, but due to Danny's boldness here they were looking like the couple they should be. _

**End of Flashback **

A single tear fell onto the frame as Danny brought it closer to his heart. He wiped the grievous stain away from the frame and set it back down on the nightstand. As he looked at the photo a blue mist escaped his lips. _My work is never done._ Danny thought to himself as he made the transformation again into Phantom.

Flying through his roof, Danny tried in vain to remove the evidence of his recent outburst. He looked around at the city skyline looking for any sign of the ghost that set off his ghost sense.

"Hello Daniel," Vlad spoke through an oily voice as he floated behind the younger halfa.

Danny spun around at an alarming speed in his anger, glaring at him and charging matching ecto-blasts, ready to fire at the threat that just presented itself. "What do you want?" Danny spat at Vlad the hate evident in his voice.

"My, my, what's wrong Daniel? Did you lose something important today?" Vlad asked with an evil sneer. Vlad pulled himself closer to Danny, leaning in and whispering, "I told you war was dirty business my boy."

Danny listened to Vlad speak, his eyes widening with each word spoken. "Wha… Wha... What did you do?" Danny could barely get the words out of his mouth. He looked pleadingly towards his opponent, begging for a different answer than the one he knew he was going to receive.

Vlad smiled at the younger boy floating in front of him; the look of pain and suffering evident on his face. Vlad leaned in once again, an evil smile gracing his features, giving him a horrific appearance, "I killed that little gothic girl you seem to love so much as well as those other meddlesome friends of yours."

As the last words escaped his mouth Danny quickly shut his eyes against the world. A rage of hate and anger swelled through him as he squeezed his fists together. Danny could feel his power skyrocketing as the pain of loss continued to sink in.

Vlad watched with delight as the boy trembled with fear, sorrow, and terrible anger. "Come, come, Daniel. Now there is no reason you can't join me," Vlad reasoned illogically, floating over and laying his hand on Danny's shoulder.

Danny opened his eyes and looked at the hand now resting on his shoulder. A smile spread across his face as Danny looked up and locked eyes with his arch foe. Vlad stumbled back in the air, his look of confident victory replaced with miscomprehension and terror. "Your eyes, what happened to your eyes? They're red!" Danny just smiled back an evil and malevolent look upon his face all the while keeping his eyes locked on Vlad's.

**AN: Well, I hope you liked this chapter. I know you all think I am an evil human being for hanging like this, but worry not. I hope to have the next chapter out hopefully by the end of the weekend. **

**I would like to thank Writergirl713, flarey ** **Phoenix****, and Catgirlversion3.0otakufan for beta reading this fic. **

**Please press that little button down there and let me know what you think so far. I greatly appreciate it; till next chapter. **


	3. Choice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

**Destroyed or Be Destroyed**

**Chapter 3 – Choice**

Vlad stumbled backwards nearly tripping over the curb. His face showed both shock and fear as he moved to compose himself. Danny approached his eyes glowing redder with each passing second. "You, you, you will pay for what you did," he spoke with resolve and hate.

Vlad finally able to get his fears under control stood to his full height using his ghost powers to gain an inch or two. "What's the matter Daniel? I though you would be happy, I know it pained you to watch that girl date," Vlad spoke with his oily voice circling around Danny who had frozen at the mention of Sam.

Inwardly Vlad smiled at the reaction he was getting thinking to himself, _"This is going to be easier than I thought."_ Danny's head was hung in thought as the villain approached. "You know she never returned your feelings for her. She only toyed with you; seeing how many hoops you would jump through," he said as he placed his arms around Danny's shoulders. "Now come with me and we can take over this pathetic planet."

Danny remained still, a battle taking place within his heart and head over what he should do next. He looked up at Vlad a malevolent smile fixing on the other halfa. A slight chuckle escaped from his lips as her turned to face Vlad. "You're not worthy of ruling this world, Vlad. Not to mention living in it," his smiled faded replaced by a look of utter contempt.

Before Vlad had a chance to react to his change in attitude a fist slammed into his gut. He wrenched over arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, blood dripping down from his mouth. Vlad straitened up looking at Danny with equal hatred. "You are going to pay for that," he spoke with anger as he flexed the muscles in his fists.

Shooting up into the air Danny unleashed a quick succession of ecto-blasts that rained down at Vlad's location throwing up chucks of concrete and dirt. As the dust begins to clear Danny can see Vlad on the ground covered in dirt and pieces of debris.

Vlad groaned from the pain as he moved to stand. He had managed to erect a shield, but not before several of the shots had made contact. _"My, that was much more powerful than usual,"_ he thought to himself as he brushed the dirt off his clothing.

Danny continued to float high above the scene forming twin ecto-blasts ready to fire as soon as he target stood back up. "Tell me," Danny yelled down," Is the great Plasimus really giving up that easily."

"My Daniel, a bit over confident aren't we," was all Danny heard before a powerful blast slammed him into the side of a building. The blinding pain was almost enough to render him unconscious. Danny winced as a sharp stabbing back ripped its way across his back.

Using the pain of lose Danny steeled himself against the pain in his side and back. With blinding speed he shot towards Vlad fists glowing green with energy. Just as he was going to make contact with Vlad's face a sharp blow from underneath caused him to fall back towards the ground. Danny slammed into the roof of the Ops center with enough force to collapse the roof. Looking up he could make out three separate and distinct forms.

"Now," the three said in unison, "you have to make a choice. You will either join with us or parish."

"_This is hopeless,"_ Danny thought to himself as he inhaled roughly causing the pain in his side to sting. _"Sam, I should have protected you. I should have been there for you,"_ Danny continued to mentally berate himself for his actions taking the full blame upon himself.

Danny sat up leaning his head against the wall, desperately trying to catch his breath. "Sam I should have told you how I really felt. I should have told you that I love you," he commented to himself. He reached out grabbing a hold of a piece of the roof and using it to pull himself into a standing position.

Vlad listed as the young boy whined to himself. He pulled himself back into a single body and continued to float high above the young halfa. _"Prefect,"_ he thought to himself, _"The boy is as good as mine."_ He crossed his arms across his chest and looked downward a wicked and confident smile playing on his lips.

The blame continued to build and build as Danny blamed him self for every mistake he had ever made. For every time Sam, Tucker, or even Valerie had been injured during a fight. He blamed himself for his parents' problems and for Jazz's. Sam, he just could not quit picturing her perfect image in his head. He loved her so much that is caused him physical pain to even be around her, but he did it everyday; because if he didn't he would die from the loss the gapping void her absence would leave in his heart. He felt as if his blood would drain out; that is how he felt know. His whole world was collapsing around him. Sure he still had his parents and Jazz, but Sam was gone. He knew it was wrong for him to govern his life around the existence and happiness of another, but this was Sam. She wasn't just another girl, she was the girl the only girl as far as Danny was concerned and had lost her. He had lost her in more ways than one and probably more ways than he wished to remember. As Danny's thoughts continued to rage on inside his head twin streams of tears poured down from his eyes mixing with the dirt and forming mud on his jump suit.

A small voice from the back of Danny's head began to speak up, "No, losing your friends was not your fault. You are not the one that took them away. He was the one that did that. He killed them." He could feel his anger begin to boil once again, the pain of loss that had been devouring his soul becoming blinding anger and rage. His eyes once again flared from green to blood red. Ecto-energy was crackling all around him as his anger at Vlad continued to race; toward what end he did not know. All he knew was that one way or another Vlad Plasimus was going to die.

Slowly Danny stood up allowing his power to wash over him like a warm blanket. He welcomed the detachment that it brought with it as it penetrated his body and soul. Calming his heart and removing those pesky feelings of mercy and compassion. He could feel the power pulse in place of his heart beat, each time growing stronger and stronger.

Vlad watched on in new found horror as the power erupted out of the younger halfa. He was not sure what had caused the power spike in the young boy, but he was sure that he didn't like the reasons. For the first time since Danny had stood up he caught his eyes. They had been red before, but a dull red. Now they were the color of blood, piercing to the point that he could swear his was being destroyed from the inside out.

Slowly Danny floated up till he was at eye level with Vlad. He watched with great satisfaction as the older halfa tried in vain to keep his fear from showing. "Now you are to pay for their lives," Danny spoke softly the threat carried in his voice slamming into Vlad, "each and every one of them."

Vlad's eyes widened in terror as Danny smiled a look of pure evil. Vlad through up his arms in a defensive manner as Danny unleashed a ghostly wail. The energy of the attack picked at his skin ripping away the clothing and starting to take its toll on the skin underneath. The wail died down and Vlad cupped his arms trying to quell the pain.

Danny smiled at the obvious pain he had inflicted on Vlad. Glad that he was finally getting what he deserved. Raising his arms above his head and throwing them back down he unleashed a wall of ice shards at Vlad; creating thousands of cuts. "How do you feel know," he asked leaning towards the now frail looking ghost. "Are you sure that you are strong enough to rule the world? Seems to me that you are nothing more than a sniveling little boy that believes him self to be some all powerful being."

Vlad's anger rose at what Danny was saying. He straightened himself up and glared at the younger boy, "How dare you presume to speak to me like that; you little child. I am your better in life and certainly in battle," he yelled towards Danny his voice filled with anger and hate. "And I will finally show you how pathetic you really are," he commanded as he fired a quick series of ecto-blasts straight into Danny's open chest. The younger halfa never had the time to react as the blast erupted into his chest.

Smoke filled the area between them as Vlad continued to fire volley after volley into Danny's chest. After several minutes of firing he relaxed to wait and see what damage he had reeked on boy. As air began to clear Danny's form came into view; Vlad waited for the blood soaked form of his opponent to appear. "No," he yelled stumbling backward, "This can't be, it's just not possible."

"Ah, but it can be," Danny retorted unleashing a wave of ice freezing Vlad within a solid brick of ice only his head sticking out the top. He dropped like a lead weight crashing to the ground with tremendous force. "Now, I will finally be rid of you. You are now longer going to hurt innocent people," Danny stated in a calm and collected voice.

Out of nowhere a second Danny appeared holding a small rifle looking object. Danny took the weapons from his clone and pointed it at Vlad a smile tracing his face. "This," he began, "is the Fenton Spectral Stripper. It will permanently remove your ghost powers."

Vlad's eyes widened at the weapon in front of him. "You're not going to kill me," he asked the weakness evident in his voice.

"No, I may hate you for taking Sam away from me, but I refuse to become my evil self," Danny answered pulling the trigger. Vlad yelled as the yellow beam stripped him of his ecto-DNA leaving only Vlad Masters where Vlad Plasimus once stood. Danny raised his hand towards Vlad, the older man cowering before him. The ice holding him in place quickly melted. "Now leave here," Danny commanded lacing his voice with an unspoken threat, "and never return."

Danny continued to float while Vlad ran as fast as he could away from him. Once he disappeared off the horizon Danny dropped to the ground with a thud. Tears flooded out of his eyes as he cried; allowing all the pent up rage and sadness to come pouring out of him.

"I sorry Sam," Danny cried to himself, "I should have told you that I loved you. I should have never been scared of ruining our friendship. I should been there for you, I should have just opened my eyes and seen what was standing right in front of me."

Danny continued to sob allowing everything to pour out of him.

Danny jerked as a hand touched his shoulder, he eyes widened in fear of who was standing behind him. He jumped up into the sky reading ecto-blasts to defend against the attacker. As his vision began to clear the figure came into view. The young girl was standing smiling up at him her amethyst eyes looking up at him pleading with him to come back down.

Sam?

AN: I would once again like to thank my beta readers: Writergirl713, Flarey Phoenix, and Catgirlversion3.0otako. You girl's are wonderful. So, can anyone guess what is up with Sam? Let me know what you think so far. And those of you who read and don't leave a review, please leave one.


	4. Alive and Well

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

**Destroyed or Be Destroyed**

**Chapter 4 – Alive and Well**

Danny stared in amazement at the figure standing on the street below him. The twin orbs of energy crackled in his hands signaling the excitement he was feeling within. "Sam," he asked softly almost willing his imagination to stop his insane hallucination. "Sam is that really you," he asked again this time with a little more voice. He dared not believe it was her it couldn't be her. There was no possible way that she made managed to survive the attack on her house; there was no way any of them had survived the attack on the Manson Mansion.

Slowly he floated down to within five feet of the dream. The smile on her face and the relief in her eyes just seemed too real to be just a figment of his imagination. "There is only one way to see if this is real," he thought to himself. Quickly he closed the distance and wrapped her in a tight hug bringing his lips down to hers.

The feeling was like nothing he had ever experienced outside of those fake-out make outs. This was real; her lips were so soft and warm and the way her body fit in perfectly with his. It was like heaven on Earth. Then it all came crashing down; Sam pushed away from him for a brief moment and looked him square in the eye.

"You better have meant that in for than a friendship way," she stated putting her hands on her hips. She had to try real had to contain the smile and laughter at his dumbfounded look.

"Wh… what," was all Danny could muster out.

Sam walked over and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. "I heard you say that you love me and I want to know if you really meant it," she asked unusual amount of uncertainty in her voice.

Danny smiled and bent down again to kiss her. "I meant every word of it. I have loved you for as long as I can remember and-," he was cut off by Sam pressing her lips to his with such force and emotion.

"I love you too you clueless idiot," Sam said between kisses. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer while she ran her fingers through his raven hair. Sam opened her mouth allowing him to deepen the kiss. His tongue traced the wondrous cavern of her mouth as hers did the same. Slowly they parted leaving their foreheads touching. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said moving her head to his shoulder.

Danny stroked her back, "You're glad I'm okay, I thought you were dead. I was ready to give it all up and become Dan. But do you know why I didn't? It was all because of you," he said pulling her away so that he could look into the beautiful amethyst eyes.

Danny leaned in to kiss her again when a blue mist escaped his lips. Danny moaned at the interruption. Suddenly a tear formed across for them and Wulf stepped out. "Guess Clockwork is ready to talk to you," Sam said walking over to where Wulf was standing.

Danny stared at the two of them a look of complete confusion on his face. "But what, how, why… Clockwork," he asked trying to put it together.

Sam stifled a giggle and walked back over taking a hold of Danny's hand. "How did you think Tucker, Valerie, and I escaped Vlad's attack," she asked pulling him over.

"I hadn't really thought about it yet," Danny answered to a laughing Sam.

"You know you really are clueless sometimes."

"Hey Wulf, how's it going?" Danny asked as he walked through the portal provided followed by Sam and Wulf. Danny found himself inside Clockwork's Tower. The thousands of differing clocks would give you a headache if you focused on them too much.

Danny spotted the ancient ghost over by the mirror that showed all the different time-lines. Danny watched as he made transitions from elderly to middle age to infant in just a matter of moments. "Ah Danny," Clockwork said turning his attention to the boy, "It is so good to see that you made the right choice in this timeline."

"What are you talking about? The right choice," Danny asked walking over to where Clockwork was standing.

Clockwork smiled down at the boy and with a calm tone explained to him that certain deviations in the time line had resulted in the reappearance and recreation of Dan Phantom. In order to make sure that those times had strictly been flukes he needed a way to test what Danny would do if the situation presented itself again.

"But you put Sam, Tucker, and Valerie all at risk for an experiment," Danny shouted at the ghost.

"Yes and no. To you they appeared in danger, but Wulf was there to bring them here away from the danger and to give you the impression that they had died," Clockwork began to explain, "The increased strength you used to defeat Plasimus was fueled purely by anger and hate. The same emotions that fuels Dan; however the difference is you chose not to give in to them as instead used your head."

Danny nodded in understanding; while he didn't completely understand all the Clockwork had said he did know that Sam and his friends were safe. And a bonus being that Vlad was no longer a threat.

Danny felt something touch his hand and looked down to see Sam's fingers interlaced with his. He squeezed them together while he continued to speak with Clockwork. Clockwork went into great detail about the differing dimensions that Dan had reappeared in and what had caused his reemergence. Danny listened intently while Sam stood at his side.

After what seemed like forever to Danny Clockwork finished. With expert timing Tucker and Valerie rounded the corner. "Hey Danny, kick ass fight," Tucker shouted running over slapping Danny on the back.

"You saw that?" Danny asked as Tucker and Valerie came to a fault in front of him and Sam.

"You're the ghost boy?" Valerie demanded.

Danny nodded his head in conformation as Valerie eyed him and then did the completely unexpected: she hugged him. Danny returned the quick hug and looked over at Tucker.

Danny spent the next several minutes fielding questions from Valerie and Tucker both. Valerie wanted to know all about his ghost half while Tucker wanted to hear all the details of the battle with Vlad from someone who was there. Sam didn't really say much; she just continued to stand next to Danny holding his hand.

"Well, I guess you better be getting back home," Clockwork suggested interrupting the continuous stream of questions from Valerie. Danny nodded his head in appreciation as Wulf ripped open a tear leading into Danny's room. Everyone waved good bye and stepped through the portal.

Once the portal closed Valerie shot Danny a questioning look. In response Danny shot Tucker a look and right on cue Tucker grabbed a hold of Valerie's room said good bye and dragged her out of the house.

Danny fell back onto his bed; reaching over he grabbed Sam's hand pulling her down beside him. Sam laid her head on Danny's shoulder and just enjoyed the warm feeling coming off him. "So, where are you going to stay?"

"I don't know, but I do know where I want to stay," Sam answered moving slightly to look Danny in the eyes.

"And where would that be?" he asked in a mischievous manner.

Sam nudged him in the ribs as he squeezed her tight against himself. "Where do you want me to stay?"

"Right here," Danny proclaimed kissing Sam lightly on the lips.

"And how would we pull that off?"

"I think I may have an idea," Danny said smiling down at Sam and kissing her again.

It had been three months since the attack on the Manson Mansion. With expert construction crews and loads of cash the place was back to its original glory. Sam had quite enjoyed the last several months due to a little work on Danny's part and a bit of overshadowing she had managed to spend the entire time at the Fenton household.

**AN: After this is going to be an epilogue of sorts. I'm not really sure what all I am going to have in it at this moment so if you have soemthing you would like to see please let me know. I would like to thank my beta readers I couldn't do this without them: Writergirl713, Flarey Phoenix, and Catgirlversion3.0otako. Now, press that little button and let me know what you thought of this chapter or the story in general.**


End file.
